I injured my rotator cuff (shoulder) years ago in an accident and it flared up again over the summer while I was hitting the weights pretty hard.

I managed to maintain my strength while I was away on vacation with some basic bodyweight exercises and working round the injury, but I’ve been itching to get back into some proper training again.

As soon as I got back from my hols I had some remedial massage work done, the guy that fixes me up is excellent but could work for at an interrogation camp. He doesn’t mess around when it comes to giving a thorough massage.

Having someone stick their fingers underneath your shoulder blade into muscles and ligaments that have never been touched before isn’t my idea of fun, but 2 weeks later it’s feeling much better.

I felt surprisingly strong for my first day back and could have done much more , but stopped myself from doing too much too soon. Ill have to build up the volume and intensity gradually over the coming months.

I love training outside down at Bondi Beach, the weathers beginning to warm up and I’m looking forward to daylight savings so we can train later in the afternoon.

Here’s the workout;

5-minute dynamic warm up with shoulder exercises (for injury).

Chin ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Kettlebell clean and press 3 sets of 10

Chin ups (reverse grip) 3 sets of 10 reps
Kettlebell snatch 3 sets of 10

5 minute cool down and stretch.

It’s amazing how good you can feel after one good workout – I can’ wait to get back into full swing again.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit
Boot Camp and Personal Training

>> Check Out Some Of Our Bondi Beach Boot Camp Clients <<

                          

The gym at my hotel was pretty basic but as always on holiday I took a set of Olympic rings with me for some outdoor training. On my first attempt I hooked the rings over the only tree I could see that had branches (most of the trees around were palm trees), within 2 mins I had to move to another site coz I was getting attacked by giant green tree ants. After walking around for a while looking for another tree I found a kids playground which became my gym for the rest of my time in port Douglas.

I then flew to Darwin for next leg of my trip where men are men and so are the women. Unlike port Douglas I decided to stay in a backpackers and although noisy was lots of fun as I got to meet more people. I love Darwin – there’s always something to do, the place is buzzing 7 days a week and the town is very new and happening. The markets are great and the sunsets are the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world and literally draw in thousands on people.

I was also lucky to be there for the beer can regatta which only takes pace once a year, this involves drinking as much beer as possible throughout the day then racing boats made from beer cans and round a buoy about 100 metres out. Luckily everyone made it back without drowning – they sure love a drink in the Northern Territory.

After spending 5 days in Darwin I booked a 3 day camping trip to Kakadu National Park which turned out to be the highlight of the trip. Our tour guide was a great laugh and had me in stitches the whole trip, he’s a combination of Steve Irwin, Rodney rude and Crocodile Dundee.

Kakadu is an amazing place and far exceeded my expectations, everyday we were swimming in waterfalls looking at incredible scenery and viewing aboriginal artwork – some up to 50 thousand years old. You couldn’t go swimming in many places as many of the billabongs and creeks are infested with big crocs, but there are plenty of places that are safe.

During the trip we saw just heaps of wildlife including snakes, lizards, buffalo, dingo, saltwater crocs, freshwater crocs, sea eagles, kites, huge 7 meter termite mounds, rock wallaby’s and jabiru’s. We also saw jumping crocodiles in Adelaide river which is the only place in the world you can see a tour like this in the wild.

I booked a tour barramundi fishing and caught my first barra, we were swimming lures past the noses of 5 metre crocs but it wasn’t really the best time for barra fishing as it’s the ‘cold season’ (33 degrees is cold for the Territorians) but we still was caught around a dozen fish up to 75cm in length. We were eating barramundi for days and got so sick of it I gave the rest away to people in the hostel.

I got a ride to Litchfield National Park with two Irish backpackers I was staying with, like Kakadu the gorges and waterfalls are amazing and we spent the day swimming in different waterholes and looking at the incredible scenery.

Unlike Port Douglas I couldn’t train outdoors, it was just too hot for me. I found a good gym 5 minutes from where I was staying and managed to get a workout in everyday I wasn’t on a tour.

Well I can honestly say that it’s great to be back, one of the best things about going away on a long trip is coming back feeling totally relaxed and refreshed. I’m fortunate enough to have job I love and what better place to do it than Sydney’s parks and beaches.

Ill personally be hitting the training hard through August, although I managed to train 3-4 times per week while I was away Ive eaten out too much and will get back into good shape before it begins to warm up in September.

Training in the gym in Darwin was a nice change but I’ve missed training outdoors with kettlebells and sandbags, as much as I love the warmer climate it’s a lot easier training in colder conditions.

All through this week we’ll again be having fitness test’s at our Sydney boot camps, if you’ve been here through July be sure to come to these sessions so you know how much your fitness has improved. If your still thinking about getting started now’s a good time to before the September rush.

I look forward to training you again this week – see you soon.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit

                          

Recently we’ve incorporated boxing workouts into our Sydney boot camps and they’ve been a massive hit with everyone in the program.

Boxing is great for cardio fitness, self-defense, weight loss and will help tone the muscles in your upper body.

Studies show that a boxing workout uses both energy systems with 60% coming from the anaerobic system and 40% from the aerobic system.

So you can see why professional boxers are so fit, but you don’t need to be Muhammad Ali to enjoy the benefits of boxing.

Sure, if you want to take up boxing as a competitive sport I would definitely recommend you see a professional boxing coach for 1-1 training.

But if you just want to get fit, lose weight and blow off some steam then boxing fitness is safe and lots of fun.

Most boxing fitness classes will combine regular boxing drills with bodyweight strength exercises and running to enhance your strength, stamina and overall fitness.

Also, during a boxing fitness workout your heart rate can elevate up to 80-90% of it’s maximum which will raise your metabolism and put your body into fat burning mode.

Boxing training will bring about a huge number of positive results, so if your bored of plodding away on a treadmill and fancy a change, feel free to contact me for a free trial session at… dan@bootcampsydney.com

We currently have boxing classes at Rushcutters Bay, Bondi Beach, Centennial Park (Queens Park) and will soon have classes in the CBD (Domain) and Coogee Beach.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit

                          

Here’s the workout

Split campers into pairs, 1 person performs the strength exercise, the other person will sprint to a cone 50 meters away and back. 90 seconds per station, 15 seconds rest then move to the next station.

Exercise 1 – Centennial Park Personal Trainer Combo:
1. Kettlebell Swings
2. Medball crunch
3. Push ups
4. Slam ball
5. Squat jumps
6. Kettlebell Swings
7. Medball crunch
8. Push ups
9. Slam ball
10. Squat jumps

Exercise 2 – Strongman sprints
Split camper into pairs, mark out 5 cones 15 meters apart. 1st person squats down and picks up the kettlebell then runs to first cone and puts the kettlebell down then sprints back and tags partner. 2nd person then repeats, continue until you have reached the 5th cone and then start making your way back until your back at the 1st cone.

Enjoy

Dan Clay
Group Personal Training Centennial Park

                          

This workout was especially tough as it was 35 degrees with very high humidity, every set was a battle and by the end of the workout I felt like I’d gone 10 rounds with Lennox Lewis.

Nevertheless it was a fun workout, I enjoy the Saturday training session more than any other because I love training outdoors and I get to play with many of the training tools I use with my boot camp clients.

The training session was a total body workout working all the major movement patterns using the following tools;

Tornado ball
Olympic rings
Kettlebells

Movement patterns…

1.Vertical pull – Chin ups
2.Core rotation – Tornado ball Russian twist
3.Horizontal pull – Kettlebell high pulls
4.Quad dominant – Squat jumps
5.Core stabilization – Olympic ring planche
6.Hip dominant – Kettlebell alternating swings
7.Vertical push – Hand stand push ups
8.Horizontal push – Olympic ring fly’s

2 sets of each exercise – 10 to 12 reps per exercise with a 45 second rest between sets.

Some of these exercises are advanced and not for beginners so exercise with caution.

Let me know how you go.

Enjoy!

Dan Clay
Outdoor Personal Training
Personal Trainers Sydney
Boot Camp Sydney
Corporate Personal Training Sydney

                          

People performing set after set of one exercise before moving onto the next exercise, it just takes forever!

I know, I used to be the same meathead who’d take 15 minutes to do 3 sets of 10 on the bench press…

What a waste of time!

Such diminished results!

And so…boring!

What’s the answer?

Fitness Boot Camps

Check out the video below to see some of the circuits we use (for advanced campers).

For a FREE 1 week trial to one of our Sydney Boot Camps and a FREE Quick start Fat Loss Kit, please visit www.bootcampsydney.com.au

Train hard!

Dan

Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney
Corporate Fitness Sydney

                          

Here are a few of the most common mistakes I see people make and how you can solve them…

1. Not calorie counting. To lose weight you must create a calorie deficit through exercise and nutrition. A calorie deficit basically means you burn more calories than you consume. You can’t out train a poor diet, you need to know how many calories you’re consuming on a daily basis – otherwise how are you supposed to know whether you’ve created a calorie deficit? Everyday keep a nutrition log of your diet.

2. Not training consistently enough. When training for fat loss you need to increase your metabolism, the higher your metabolism the more calories you’ll burn. If you don’t train consistently enough your metabolism won’t increase to desired level. Consistent training has a cumulative effect resulting in more calories (fat) being burned. Train a minimum of 3 times per week.

3. Drinking too much alcohol. This one ties in with fat loss mistake number 1 but deserves special mention. Alcohol is full of empty calories with no real nutritional value and will therefore increase fat storage.

Drinking too much alcohol reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy and while the liver is metabolizing alcohol you’re unable to metabolize fat. If you’re trying to lose fat – you need to completely cut out alcohol.

1 glass of wine (average): 130 Calories
Regular beer: 150 Calories
Pre-Mixed Smirnoff Raw, (all flavors): 230 Calories

4. Not changing your exercise program regularly enough. Ever wondered why you hit a plateau? Typically you need to mix up your program after every 6 exposures. Once you’ve performed the same exercise for 6 times or more in a row you need to;
a) Change the exercise
b) Change the reps
c) Change the sets
d) Change the tempo (lifting speed)

If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment below.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay

Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney
Corporate Fitness Sydney

                          

Now that I’m back in Sydney we’re kicking off with two new boot camps to trim up before the Xmas holiday season.

The camps will run for 6 weeks and will be held at Rushcutters Bay and Queens Park (Centennial Parklands) starting next week, please click here for more info…

Boot Camp Fitness Sydney

6 weeks is a long time to be away and I definitely missed my surfing and kettlebell workouts, luckily I took my Olympic rings away with me so I managed to get some pretty good workouts in even when there were no gyms around.

I also trained with my brother in Spain for a few days, without having access to a gym for 5 weeks and only performing bodyweight leg exercises I think I may have overdone it on the squats.

There was no way I was going to get outdone by my brother and soon as I began training the competitiveness in me took over and the *10% rule (10% rule means you should only lift 10% more than in the previous week) went out the window.

Subsequently I could barely walk for 3 days, walking upstairs was painful and getting in and out of cars was nearly impossible, even after years of hard training it’s amazing how quickly the body can lose it.

Anyway I had my first kettlebell workout this morning since I got back to Sydney and even though it was tough it felt great to blow off the cobwebs and get back into some serious training.

There’s a different kind of mental toughness when training with Kettlbells where you really need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and dig in.

Here is the workout I performed …

Warm – up
10 x bodyweight squats
10 x Olympic ring face pulls
10 x push ups
10 x KB swings (with a light weight)

Workout
2 x 12 KB clean and press
2 x 12 Wide grip Olympic ring chin ups
2 x 12 KB Russian twist
2 x 12 KB Front squats
2 x 12 KB single leg deadlift
2 x 120 second plank

Rest 45 seconds between exercises.

Warm down and stretch

Let me know how you get on.

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit Personal Training
Personal Training Sydney
Boot Camp Fitness Sydney

P.S If you would like to learn more about Kettlebells we use them for personal training and in our boot camps, you can call me directly on 0422 936 963 or contact me through my website www.personaltrainersydney.com

                          

Over the past couple of years kettlebell strength training has become very popular in Australia, recently Ive received quite a few questions regarding the use of kettlebells, people want to know what the benefits are.(Note:You can either perform this exercise for time or reps).I have been using kettlebells myself for the past 2 years and training clients with them for the past 1 year and a half.I love them, virtually all my training takes place outdoors and kettlebells are a great way for me to train quickly and conveniently without the hassle of going to the gym or setting dumbells and weight plates – I literally open up the back of my truck and have an instant gym waiting for me.

So what are the benefits?

Well…firstly kettlebell training will certainly give you the biggest bang for your buck, it must be one of the most effective forms of training for achieving the most out of your workout in the shortest amount of time.

You see the great thing about kettlebell training is it works the body as one unit with killer exposive exercises, these workouts are great for fat burning, toning, mental toughness, flexibility, strength and muscle endurance.

On recent trip to Kangaroo Valley I filmed one of my workouts… here is one of of my favourite exercises – the high pull, clean, snatch and press.

It’s a combination lift working many muscles at once – great for a quick workout and makes a good finisher.

Give kettlebell training a try, I doubt you’ll be rushing back to the gym to stand in queue in a hurry!

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit Personal Training
www.dangerouslyfitpersonaltraining.com
www.personaltrainersydney.com
www.bootcampsydney.com.au